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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22704127">I Fought The Law And...</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/elstarwarslover/pseuds/elstarwarslover'>elstarwarslover</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vriska and Terezi in Wonders Land [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Homestuck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Attempted Revolution, Breaking the Law, Chatlogs, Gen, Kidnapping, On the Run, Spoiler: None of the deaths are permanent, Tea, That's not the kind of story I want to write, godtier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 12:27:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,691</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22704127</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/elstarwarslover/pseuds/elstarwarslover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Vriska and Terezi just got done kidnapping and repatriating a kid, so they go to Rose for advice on what to do next.  Her advice?  :)</p>
<p>Spoilers for Resolution (the previous fic in Vriska and Terezi in Wonders Land).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, June Egbert/Terezi Pyrope, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam, Terezi Pyrope/Vriska Serket</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vriska and Terezi in Wonders Land [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1631104</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This should end up at about another 10,000 words or so, but we'll see.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was Vriska’s idea to head south first to throw the cops off their trail.  Terezi didn’t know whether it’d work, really. In fact, it was almost certain that that fucking hacker would track them and sell their location to the highest bidder.  She doesn’t even need to rely on the residual bits of information from her would-have-been Seer powers to know that; they had almost certainly done just that the night before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nevertheless, here they are in the middle of the human kingdom.  People go out of their way to cross the street in front of them, and Terezi hears more than a few whispers wondering about the reasons a pair of trolls might be in </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> neighborhood.  Still, no one seems to have picked up on which trolls exactly were in </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> neighborhood, which is a good thing to her mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi will admit that they’ve gotten themselves into quite the predicament.  Vriska is still hellbent on making a change in the world, but even she admits they’ll need a better plan than to “break random laws until people decide they’re stupid laws anyway” now.  So here they are, on their way to meet Rose and Kanaya and maybe come up with something resembling an actual plan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In truth, Terezi is a bit surprised that either of them would continue to live here, now that the neighborhood has become so hostile.  Maybe they’re stubbornly attached to one particular house and determined not to budge first. Being creators, and Rose being a god, it’s certainly a viable option.  More likely, however, they moved in here in the hopes of changing things from the inside. Terezi wonders how successful they have been.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: I think this is it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It certainly is.  The house is small, by the rest of the neighborhood’s standards, but that’s not the reason it sticks out.  Instead, the entire outside of the house is painted matte black, with the exception of the jade green door.  Compared to the beige sensibilities of the rest of the neighborhood, their house is like a supernova. Or, perhaps more accurately, the black hole that follows it.  Vriska knocks eight times on the door.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="rose">ROSE: Coming!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The door swings open to a homey living room.  Kanaya sits across the room under a pile of blankets, which looks like it was disturbed quite recently.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="kanaya">KANAYA: I Told You Shed Knock Eight Times</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Old ha8its die hard.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Wh8t's up?</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Blissfully Nothing Thank You</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: You Certainly Have A Way Of Keeping People On Their Toes</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3 W3R3NT GO1NG TO COM3 B4CK 4ND S1T ON OUR 4SS3S</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: No, I suppose you wouldn’t. </span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Although I must ask you to please sit on your asses for a while now.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Don’t mind if we do.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi taps her cane against the bottom of the door frame to get an idea of the height of the threshold, then steps inside.  She finds the nearest seat and plops down in it. Vriska follows her in and takes the seat next to her. From the kitchen, a tea kettle begins to whistle.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="rose">ROSE: You’re actually just in time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rose disappears, then comes back out with four teacups and a teapot on a serving tray.  She sets them down on the table, then crawls back under the blanket with Kanaya. Kanaya kisses her on the cheek.  Rose blushes and smiles, but she doesn’t acknowledge it otherwise.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="rose">ROSE: The tea will be done steeping here in a few minutes.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Do you want to tell us why we have the pleasure of your company in the meantime?</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Rose</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: It is a perfectly valid question, given how little they are typically inclined to sit still without cause.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: If I recall correctly, you in particular took an interest in solving other people’s problems, Vriska.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Can you 8lame me?</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: That rock was the most 8ooooooooring pl8ce I’ve ever 8een.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: And I spent perigrees in the m8dium with Tavros.</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: May God Be Pleased With Him</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: He’s not d8d anymore.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: ::::/</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: I Suppose Thats True</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Still It Seems Appropriate Given His Current Undead State</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3’R3 H3R3 TO P1CK YOUR BR41NS 4BOUT F1X1NG TH1S GODD4MN CLUST3RFUCK OF 4 L3G4L SYST3M</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Ah, there it is.</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Thats Quite The Burden To Put On Our Shoulders</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Are You Quite Sure We Will Live Up To It</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: WH4T TH3 FUTUR3 MOTH3R OF TH3 TROLL R3N41SS4NC3 4ND H3R M4T3SPR1T 4R3N’T UP TO TH3 CH4LL3NG3??</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: You Charmer</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: I Bet You Say That To All The Ladies</span><br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All four of them blush at the exchange.  Everyone else seems to look away from each other; Terezi takes a moment to thank her younger self for investing in a pair of reflective glasses, lest she now feel obligated to do the same.  Rose eventually looks back over at Kanaya with a look that says something to the effect of, “were it not for the laws of this land, I would marry you right now.” Terezi nudges Vriska, who nearly jumps out of her seat.  The air around her grows warmer, too; if she hadn’t been blushing before, she definitely is now. Terezi just smiles. Kanaya stretches out from under her blanket to pour everyone a cup of tea, then retreats back under it, cradling her cup in her hands.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="rose">ROSE: You have, in fact, come to the right place.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Well, perhaps one of a few right places.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: In our time here, Roxy, Jane, Kanaya and I have become some of the predominant experts in law.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Them due to their workings in the upper echelons of their respective kingdoms, and us due to our work in updating those laws to reflect the changes that the troll kingdom is about to undergo.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: My Seer of Light powers certainly help as well.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Is there anything in particular you want to know?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska looks at Terezi, then back at Rose.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: I mean, isn’t that kind of o8vious?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: WH4T L4WS SHOULD W3 BR34K??</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: And how?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: TO BR34K TH3 ST4TUS QUO R1GHT OP3N TH4T 1S</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Ah, so it is to be the flashy route then.</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: You Knew That Already</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Sure, but the effect is better if I pretend I don’t know.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kanaya shrugs then addresses Vriska and Terezi directly.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="kanaya">KANAYA: The Truth Is That Due To The Absurd Complexity Of The Legal System And The Fact That It Was Initially Put Together By A Bunch Of Seven Sweep Old Children There Are A Number Of Laws In Place Which Are Technically Unenforceable</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Most of them were put in place intentionally by bad actors, hoping to game the system.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Trying to break these will mostly prove useless, though; they usually have to do with specific types of fraud or corporate tax evasion that broaden the wealth gap but aren’t particularly flashy.</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Openly Breaking Those Laws Will Get You Little Other Than The Disdain Of Most Of The Common People</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Still others were complete accidents and go unenforced by habit as much as technicality; these have little bearing on society in any way and won’t make you a splash.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: SO WH4T 4R3 W3 L3FT W1TH</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Well, funny enough, kidnapping.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: You’re shitting me.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Nope.</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Its Actually Pretty Funny How The Technicalities Of That One Worked Out</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Can I Tell Them Dear</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Of course, my love.</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Neither Troll Nor Consort Penal Codes Have Equivalents To Kidnapping The Way That Human And Carapacian Penal Codes Do</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: This Being Because Consorts Raise Children Communally And Trolls Dont Have Any Cultural Concepts Of Parentage</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: The Icing On The Cake Being That The Four Kingdoms Pact Recognizes The Arresting Kingdoms Penal Code In Cases Of International Crime</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Which Means</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: BY R3TURN1NG CT 1N TH3 TROLL K1NGDOM W3 W3R3 L3G4LLY UNPUN1SH4BL3</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Precisely</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Now, resisting arrest is another story.</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: But The Arrest Was Itself Unlawful</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Which Means You Two Are By Technicality Not Even Criminals Right Now</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Except For The Car You Stole That Is</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: And Maybe Property Damage In The Unlikely Scenario That You Admit To Making A Meteor Fall On Top Of A Cops Car</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: TH4T 3XPL41NS WHY ROXY W4NT3D US TO TURN OURS3LV3S 1N</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Quite so.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: But we do have everyone’s 8ttention.</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Quite So</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: So what’s the next step then?</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: I don’t suppose you could be convinced to quit while you’re already ahead?</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Roxy, Callie, and Jane are doing quite convincing reform work from within their respective kingdoms.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: I’ve never once quit while I was ahead, and I don’t intend to start now.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Fair point.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: It just so happens that I know exactly what your next target should be.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: TH4T B31NG</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Your friend Catalina is currently under Troll Kingdom custody.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: The backside to you being unpunishable is that the Troll Kingdom doesn’t recognize parental custody from other kingdoms.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: Which means there’s no legal precedent for repatriating her.</span><br/>
<span class="rose">ROSE: You go to the police station, kidnap her, deliver her to her father—without getting caught, that is—then publicize what you’ve done once you get back to the troll kingdom.</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: You Will Most Certainly Be Arrested</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: But You Will Also Become A Hero For Those Who Hate The Divisions Inherent In The Four Kingdoms Pact</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: And Also They Cant Actually Hold You Very Long So Youre Not Really At Risk As Long As You Dont Get Caught In The Carapacian Kingdom</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska looks at Terezi, then slams her tea back.  Terezi follows suit; it’s hot but not scalding anymore.  Vriska tries to get up, but Kanaya interrupts her before she can finish.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Where The Hell Do You Think Youre Going</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: To go kidnap a kid again, o8viously.</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: You Are Our Treasured Guest And You Will Stay And Make Full Use Of The Amenities Available To You So Help Me God</span><br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska shoots Terezi a look, but Terezi knows Kanaya well enough to know that she’s dead serious.  Besides, the tea was good.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3LL 1F TH4TS TH3 C4S3 TH3N YOU WONT M1ND POUR1NG M3 4NOTH3R CUP OF T34</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1D DO 1T MYS3LF BUT 1D H4T3 TO SP1LL 1T 4LL OV3R YOUR FLOOR</span><br/>
<span class="kanaya">KANAYA: Well Dont Mind If I Do</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kanaya pours Terezi another cup, then refills Vriska’s as well.  Rose leans back, and comes quite close to losing the cover of her blankets in doing so.  Vriska sits back down and sips her tea this time. Kanaya smiles at Terezi, and Terezi smiles back.  And for the first time in awhile, she finally lets herself really relax.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Terezi sniffs at her phone again, making sense of the texts that MS had sent her the night before.  Of course it’s a trap. They had been the one to alert the cops to Terezi and Vriska’s whereabouts when the cops showed up, then had the audacity to show up to the scene of the crime in person.  Any just system would have them executed and be done with it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Okay, well maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration.  Still, she has no reason to trust them anymore, and didn’t really in the first place either.  Why would she go back now? And yet, the texts were there, beckoning her to an address here in the human kingdom.  If she leaves now, who knows if they’ll still be there by the time she gets back. Besides, if they turn out to be full of shit, she can just leave and pretend they never met.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: H3Y VR1SK4</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Wh8t’s up?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3 N33D TO M4K3 4 STOP B3FOR3 W3 G3T TO TH3 TROLL K1NGDOM</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Ooooooookay.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Might I 8e so 8old as to ask why?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: R3M3MB3R TH4T K1D TH4T SOLD US OUT</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Ugh, yeah.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: GOT 4 M3SS4G3 TH4T TH3Y H4V3 SOM3 1NFORM4T1ON TH4T 1LL F1ND R3L3V4NT OR SOM3TH1NG L1K3 TH4T</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: And you trust that?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: H3LL NO</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: BUT 1LL 4DM1T TH3Y P1QU3D MY CUR1OS1TY</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Fair enough, i suppose.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Lead the w8y.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi checks the address again, then orients herself in the right direction.  She flicks her jetpack open, and takes a deep breath. The smell of the wealth around her is intoxicating, even when it’s only for show.  She had never envied the better-off trolls; her blood color was sufficient that she was safe, and her home was perfect. However, the few times she had been to those neighborhoods, she had certainly noted just how excessive their lives were.  These houses were no exception. Ostentatious displays of meaningless money following trends that were sure to die out by fall.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then, with the press of a button, she takes to the sky.  Vriska follows her close after. The wind is cold against her face, and her t-shirt offers her no insulation.  She nudges a little closer to Vriska, who doesn’t move away. The houses under her start to spread out, until each one is accompanied by an acreage of its own.  No one crop seems to dominate. Some of the fields are covered in vines and greens; others make the old human phrase, “amber waves of grain,” seem self-evident. Still others are orchards, just now coming into fruit.  Terezi’s phone buzzes and points out the barn where they are to meet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She slows her jetpack down and lets herself glide to the ground.  When she hits the ground, she rolls and captchalogues the jetpack.  Vriska comes up next to her in a jog.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: This is 8t?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4PP4R3NTLY</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Good place for a rendezvous, at least.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: GOOD PL4C3 FOR 4 TR4P TOO</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: WHY DONT YOU L3T M3 GO 1N F1RST SO YOU C4N US3 YOUR LUCK POW3RS TO G3T M3 OUT 1N C4S3 OF TROUBL3</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Good idea.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Let me know when I’m good to come in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The barn itself is dilapidated, likely abandoned a generation ago.  Apparently whoever left it here had no family to take care of it. Or maybe they just didn’t care to claim it.  In any case, it looks ready to collapse at any moment. There’s one big door on this side, ten feet wide and thirty tall, held shut by a rusty padlock.  The other door is smaller, the size of a house door, though twice as thick. This on is laying on the ground, discarded by the ravages of time and rust.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi steps through and finds the barn empty.  A workbench that was welded to the side of the barn sits covered in dust.  A pile of hay occupies the other side, long rotted. Terezi steps forward again, and the air shifts.  The sound of fluttering catches her attention as a piece of paper falls gracelessly on top of the workbench.  A doorknob rattles behind her and finds the smaller door shut and back on its hinges.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She tries the doorknob and nearly falls on top of Vriska on the other side.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: Wh8t th8 f8ck just h8ppened?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: YOU T3LL M3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1TS 3MPTY 1N TH3R3</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: F8ck.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Okay, hold on.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska bends over and tries to catch her breath, but it continues to elude her.  Eventually, she stands back up and runs one hand through her hair.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: Well, the 8arn fucking fixed itself I guess.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Who knows how that happened.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi takes in the barn again and finds it no longer dilapidated.  The lock holding the bigger door shut seems brand new again. Even the ground around her seems fresher, as though it hadn’t been through quite so many seasons untended.  Terezi checks her phone to make sure she’s still in the same place, and mercifully finds it unchanged. Her clock ticks over another minute as though nothing had happened.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3LL 1M R34SON4BLY SUR3 1TS NOT 4 TR4P NOW</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: WHO3V3R TH1S 1S 1S JUST FUCK1NG W1TH US R1GHT</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Yeah.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: ::::/</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: TH3R3S 4NOTH3R P13C3 OF P4P3R 1N TH3R3 THOUGH</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: PROB4BLY 4NOTH3R 4DDR3SS 1F 1 KNOW TH1S FUCK3R Y3T</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: BUT 1 D1DNT CH3CK</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: I’ll go gra8 it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska walks in, then pops back out a second later.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: Sure enough.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: A pair of coordin8es, and a time l8er tonight.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: WH3R3 1S 1T</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska types something into her phone.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: Troll Kingdom.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: It’d 8e easy enough to make another stop 8efore we pick up CT, but only if we leave now.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3LL TH3N 1 GU3SS L3TS GO</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: DONT W4NT TO M1SS TH3 GR4ND F1N4L3</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: All right, let’s go then.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska takes the lead this time, soaring to the sky.  Terezi follows in close pursuit. They go back over the suburbs they were in before, then over a small city.  The architecture of the area begins to change rapidly as they approach the human-troll border. The bland whites and square plots of the human kingdom make way to dark grays and hexagonal hives with perfectly-manicured lawnrings.  Below them is the mall they visited the other night. There aren’t half as many cars there now as the other night, but it’s hardly 5 o’clock now, so there’s still time for it to pick up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The horizon has just begun to turn orange, and as they fly, that orange gets deeper and darker.  It shifts to a red, then finally the dark black of night. The moon hangs overhead now, full and bright, and Vriska and Terezi keep flying.  By the time they land, they’re deep within a forest without a trace of civilization around. Vriska lands and turns around. Terezi lands next to her.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: It’s just around here, apparently.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: See anything?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: NOT 1N 4 COUPL3 OF SW33PS NO</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: You know what I mean.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi takes a whiff of the air around her.  It smells remarkably similar to the forest she used to live in.  In fact, there’s a good chance it may have been grown intentionally to resemble that very forest; who knows what kinds of idol worship people got up to in the last five millennia?  Nothing seems particularly strange about it. There’s certainly no one around, at least not that she can smell. There is a glint in the sky that wasn’t there a few minutes ago.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: TH3R3 1SNT 4NYON3 H3R3 BUT US</span><br/>

  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: WH4T T1M3 DO3S 1T S4Y??</span><br/>

  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: A8out a minute from now.</span><br/>

  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: They’d have to 8e here already, right?</span><br/>

  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: Unless they’re planning on 8eing l8.</span><br/>

  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: TH3Y W3R3NT 4T TH3 B4RN 4T 4LL</span><br/>

  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: M4YB3 W3R3 SUPPOS3D TO LOOK FOR 4NOTH3R P13C3 OF P4P3R OR SOM3TH1NG</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But something seems off about that particular solution.  MS didn’t seem the sort to send people on a wild goose chase for paper after paper.  And besides that, why would a piece of paper be time dependent? No, something is happening here in a minute.  The glint in the sky has grown large and red. Oh. OH.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: VR1SK4 W3 N33D TO L34V3 R1GHT NOW</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska mercifully doesn’t bother to ask why.  Instead, she tackles Terezi and takes to the sky.  In an instant, they’re above the treeline, and in another, they pass a meteor headed to the exact spot they were just standing.  The wind coming off of it pushes them back, but Vriska has enough control to stop them before they hit anything. She turns around in time for the meteor to explode against the Earth.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: Well, I guess they really were just trying to kill us then.</span><br/>

  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: NO TH3R3S SOM3TH1NG ON TH3 M3T3OR</span><br/>

  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: Wh8t?</span><br/>

  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 C4NT T3LL</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi drops down to the ground, and rolls to keep from hurting herself.  She jogs to the edge of the meteor, tripping a few times in the process, but she needs to know now what’s on it.  What could possibly have been worth risking her life, worth risking Vriska’s life? Vriska comes up behind her again and puts a hand on her shoulder.  Terezi climbs down into the crater, brushing off her shirt when it threatens to catch fire.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sitting at the bottom of the meteor is a wiggler with rams horns and a face she remembers well.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: So we h8ve another gog-d8mned kid.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: That's fine, right?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1M SUR3 1TS F1N3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: M4K3S M3 F33L B3TT3R 4BOUT ST34L1NG ON3</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: What, having a kid you don't want 8alances out stealing one you do?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: Y34H SOM3TH1NG L1K3 TH4T</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: That's fucked up.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3LL 1M NOT JUST GO1NG TO L34V3 TH3M H3R3</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Why not?</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Some lusus will come 8long at some point and pick them up.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: They're everywhere around here.</span><br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The wind rustles through the trees.  Terezi still doesn't smell anyone else nearby, lusus or otherwise.  Granted, the scent of smoke is pretty thick here, so the possibility that it’s masking another scent is not out of the question.  Even still, she has her doubts about that being the way lusii are assigned on this world. Everything else here has grown so domestic; there's no way that lusii are chosen by random selection like they were in the brooding caverns.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Besides that, if she doesn't make sure they survive, doesn't that cause a time paradox?  That's when dead bodies start piling up, and she's in no mood to count her own among them.  She picks up the wiggler, careful to support their neck.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: COM3 ON</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3'LL SW4P TH3M OUT 4T TH3 POL1C3 ST4T1ON</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: ON3 STOL3N K1D FOR 4NOTH3R</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: HA!</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Gr8!</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: L8t’s do it.</span><br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi takes flight again, for what seems like the thousandth time today.  Each time it loses just a bit of its charm, but each time she still manages to notice something new.  This time, she notices just how violently the wind is buffeting her as she tries to make sure that this poor wiggler makes it through alive.  Even though they’ll grow up to be a pretty shitty person all around, they still deserve to live to make that choice. Besides, who knows how they’ll be after this moody teenager phase?  Maybe they’ll grow up to be a wonderful and compassionate adult. She can imagine it now. An adult with all the connections and information in the world, using that information to help the people around them.  Using it to uplift entire communities and to correct injustices. Oh, who is she kidding, this little wiggler is gonna be an asshole their entire life. Even still, Terezi can’t help but worry about them as they fly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The night wind has grown brisk, but Terezi can’t stop thinking about this whole absurd quest she’s ended up on.  So Sgrub is back, apparently, as evidenced by the wiggler she’s currently holding. And somehow, for some reason, they came back sweeps later to… to what?  She still has no idea as to their motivations yet, and she can’t get a read any deeper than “perpetually manipulative asshole.” She wonders too how much her other plans play into the equation.  Is breaking the law really the best way to reform it? Does it even matter anymore, compared to the impending end of the world?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska dips below her, and Terezi follows suit.  They land a handful of meters outside the police station, where they won’t be seen quite yet.  Most of the lights are off, excepting one where some presumably overworked bureaucrat has been assigned to make sure no one tries anything overnight.  It’s also where Catalina is being held, despite Terezi’s promise that she’d see her dad.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: Wh8t’s the angle here?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 C4NT T3LL HOW M4NY 4R3 1N TH3R3 BUT MY GU3SS 1S ONLY ON3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: PROB4BLY 4 TROLL</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: M1DBLOOD</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Difficult to control then.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: PR3C1S3LY</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: I’d prefer not to cause too much damage to the place.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Don’t want to give them cause to give us h8ll.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: NOP3</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi ponders for a moment more before an idea comes to her.  She hands MS off to Vriska.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: FOLLOW MY L34D</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska nods.  Terezi walks straight up to the double doors of the police station and stands there for a second.  A figure inside shifts. Terezi reaches into her wallet and pulls out a bottle of candy red spray paint.  Vriska hides in the shadows next to the doorway. Terezi shakes the bottle and hears it rattle. She sprays a diagonal line down the front of the left door.  The figure inside stands up. Terezi draws a line across from the bottom of the first one, then a longer one connecting the first two on the other side. 4. A shouting noise comes from inside, and the figure moves to the side.  They have to walk around the desk, giving Terezi another couple of seconds. She draws a straight line down the middle of the two doors. 1. A red cloud puffs into the room on the other side. The figure across from her breaks into a jog.  Terezi scrawls a 3 on the right door, then drops her can of paint and runs the other direction right as the receptionist hits the door. The receptionist follows her through, shouts after her. In the confusion, Vriska slips inside, and now Terezi’s alone with her pursuer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She runs down the road—the forest is far too dense to try to navigate on her own—and prays that she’s faster than whoever this is.  A gust of wind blows from behind her, and she picks up the scent of olive. Well, at least she’ll go quickly. An intersection comes up, and she turns to the right.  The footsteps behind her get closer and closer. Terezi flips out her jetpack and straps it on.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On Alternia, most olivebloods would have their claws out by now.  Terezi prays that rule of law has even a little bit more weight here.  She presses the button to turn on her jetpack and propels herself forward.   There’s a thud behind her, and the oliveblood rolls back to her feet. Even with her jetpack on, Terezi isn’t much faster than her.  She points the jetpack towards the sky and shoots upward. There are two bounds beneath her. One. Two. The oliveblood jumps at her.  Terezi points the jetpack down and does a loop under the oliveblood. A claw strikes out at her, but Terezi is too far away for it to hit.  The oliveblood is right above her, close enough to have gotten a good look. But she’s going the wrong direction now, and Terezi’s still faster with her jetpack.  Even if just a little.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She takes a direct path over the forest back to the police station.  That will buy her another couple of minutes. A siren wails in the distance.  Apparently someone was paying attention after all. It’s all the same; once they’ve gone, they’ll be untouchable.  She hits the ground running and throws the doors to the police station open. When she fails to find Vriska, she pulls the fire alarm.  Another bit of publicity, another group of people who’ll be here in just a few short minutes.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: VR1SK4!!</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: THIS WAY!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her voice echoes off the walls, but Terezi finds the right way despite that.  She walks briskly—running would put her at too great a risk of missing some small but crucial detail in her pathway—and makes her way to the holding cells.  She smells Vriska and Catalina in the last one. She stops right before she turns in, though. To her right is the wiggler, laying on their back on a bench.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: SO W3 R34LLY 4R3 JUST GONN4 L34V3 MS H3R3 HUH</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: That was the plan.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: She won’t talk to me.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska gestures to Catalina, who has her back turned to the both of them.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: How much time do we have?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4BOUT 4 M1NUT3 4ND TH3N TH3 G4M3 1S UP</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: L3T M3 T4LK TO H3R</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: All you.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska steps out of the cell.  The lights in the building flicker, but they weather whatever power fluctuation caused it.  Terezi steps up so that she’s only a foot or so behind Catalina.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: H3Y K1D</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: DO YOU R3M3MB3R M3??</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She almost hates herself for saying it.  It hadn’t been three days since they parted ways, of course she remembers her.  Besides, Catalina hardly reacts. Not quite the icebreaker that Terezi was hoping for.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: OF COURS3 YOU DO WH4T 4M 1 S4Y1NG</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: SORRY 4BOUT L34V1NG YOU B3H1ND L1K3 TH4T</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 THOUGHT TH3Y WOULD T4K3 YOU TO YOUR D4D</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: TURNS OUT 1TS 4 B1T MOR3 COMPL1C4T3D TH4N TH4T</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catalina’s hands are balled up in fists, but she doesn’t give any other sign of listening.  The whole room seems to be falling apart and collapsing in on itself at the same time. As if out of nowhere, Terezi is struggling to keep herself together.  All she wants to do is scream now, to scream and to tear this whole building apart brick by brick.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thirty seconds.  A voice in the far recesses of her mind calls her back to the present, reminds her of why she’s here, reminds her of why she can’t afford to fail.  Another realization tingles in the back of her mind. Truthfully, though, it’s more of a vision, of a carapacian falling down to Earth C on a meteor.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1’M TRY1NG TO M4K3 1T 4LL B3TT3R</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4ND 1’D R34LLY L1K3 YOUR H3LP ON TH1S ON3 OK4Y??</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1’M NOT GONN4 L13 TH3 S1TU4T1ON 1S PR3TTY B4D</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: BUT W3’V3 GOT TH3 CH4NC3 TO CH4NG3 TH3 WHOL3 WORLD</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No reaction.  Clearly that’s not the route she’s got to take.  Catalina is angry, and rightfully so, but Terezi is still struggling to come up with something.  Fifteen seconds. The sound of boots in the hallway tell her that she might not even have that.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1LL L3T YOU 1NTRODUC3 M3 TO YOUR D4D WH3N W3 G3T TH3R3</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catalina’s head tilts.  One fist unclenches just a bit.  Terezi grabs her hand right as Vriska runs into the room.  Eight blue dice clatter against the floor.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: MOVE!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi pulls Catalina to the side of the cell and puts herself between Catalina and the dice.  There’s an explosion next to her, and the outside wall explodes. Vriska jumps through, and Terezi tosses Catalina to her.  She whips on her jetpack and propels herself through. Three cops enter the room behind her. Behind them are another five, among them the oliveblood from earlier.  A handful of shots ring out, and clatter against the wall. A purpleblood stares Terezi down, but Terezi doesn’t bother to return his gaze. She already knows who he is, and he’s just as helpless now as he was then.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ah, lab reports, the bane of my existence.  Still managed to pull this one together though!  Hope y'all enjoy!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Trying to do 100 words a day again... starting tomorrow.  In the meantime, have this, which I wrote but never got around to publishing earlier this year.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The house that Catalina points them to is exactly what you would expect from one of the most powerful people in the carapacian kingdom.  It’s gaudy and ostentatious, and the whole thing seems to have been gilded just for effect.  Vriska starts to fly upward to where Catalina’s bedroom must be, but Catalina points down at the front door instead.  Vriska turns to her and tries to make their situation clear, but Catalina is insistent.  Terezi remembers the rage she felt back at the police station and decides to prevent the upcoming incident before it happens.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: L3TS JUST GO DOWN TH3R3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 TOLD H3R W3D M33T H3R D4D 4NYW4Y</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: And if he decides to call the cops on us?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 TH1NK W3V3 W3LL PROV3N BY TH1S PO1NT TH4T W3 OUTM4TCH TH3M</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Fine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska drops down to the front door.  Terezi follows suit, then knocks three times.  Vriska sets Catalina down, and Catalina straightens out her clothing.  The effect might be transformative, if she hadn’t been wearing the same thing since Vriska and Terezi had accidentally kidnapped her all that time ago.  A consort opens the door and lets them in.  The sound of conversation comes from down the hallway.  The butler leads them towards it.  Sitting at the table are the carapacian bureacrat—Catalina’s dad—and the troll with ram’s horns that has been stalking them since they got back to Earth C.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catalina practically knocks the table over jumping into her dad’s arms.  He catches her with the practiced grace of a professional dancer and pulls her into an embrace that seems to last forever.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="karkat">MS: please sit down</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: i’d like you to meet my friend</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: vriskaa terezi this is buford</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: i’m sure you’ve heaard of him aas he does some quite convincing work within the caaraapaciaan kingdom</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: buford you know vriskaa serket</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: terezi pyrope</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The bureaucrat bows in a way that suggests this whole affair was not his decision, then sits down and looks the other way.  Catalina sits next to him and engages him in what seems to be a lively conversation.  When neither Vriska nor Terezi makes a move to sit down, MS gestures towards two empty chairs at the table.  Buford puts Catalina into a high chair, which makes her taller than the other two at the table.  Vriska glances at Terezi, then sits down, but Terezi just pulls out her cane and leans against it.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 MUCH PR3F3R TO ST4ND</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: please i insist</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: we haave much to discuss aand i’d prefer you not be uncomfortaable the whole time</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi lets scenario after scenario run through her head, trying to get a sense of where MS is at.  There’s still so little she knows about them, but if she plays her cards right, she might be able to get a better sense of them.  She sits down and leans her cane against the table.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: SO WH4TS TH1S W3 H4V3 TO D1SCUSS TH3N</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: first off you left me in aa police station</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: Y34H</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: WH4T OF 1T</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: do you haave aany ideaa how haard it waas to break myself out</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Um, yes?</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: We just did the same thing.</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: okay faair but it was rather aannoying</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: but don’t worry</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: wiggler me is safe aand sound</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 W4S V3RY CONC3RN3D</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: i could tell</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: second</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: which i aam sure you haave aalready figured out</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: theres aa new game coming</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: sgrub sburb whaatever you waant to caall it</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: And you want what exactly?</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: i waant you to stop it obviously</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: F4T CH4NC3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: YOU M1GHT H4V3 SOM3 LUCK B4RK1NG UP JUN3S TR33 BUT SH3S TH3 ONLY ON3 WHO C4N M4K3 TH4T K1ND OF CH4NG3</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: You know, for someone who knows so much, you’d think you would have picked up on that little det8l.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: DONT WORRY 1 TH1NK TH3Y ONLY KNOW TH3 TH1NGS TH3Y S3T UP TH3MS3LV3S</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Explains the meteor.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4ND TH3 B4RN</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Although I will admit, the 8arn thing was pretty cool.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 34S1LY 4 S3V3N OUT OF T3N</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: I wouldn’t say easily, it did have to scrape up for that last point.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: NON3TH3L3SS</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: aare you two quite finished</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Yeah, 8 guess.</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: i know thaat june is the only person with retcon powers aat present</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: however we aare reluctaant to aapproach her right now</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: aas she seems content to waatch the world burn aaround her</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: never know when shes going to get aa bee in her bonnet aand decide to care aabout things</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: BUT W3R3 PR3D1CT4BL3</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: quite</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: A shame, really.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: QU1T3</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: If we hadn’t 8een so predicta8le, we just might have 8een useful.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4S 1T ST4NDS THOUGH YOU S33M TO H4V3 WOUND3D OUR PR1D3</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: I’m afr8d we’ll have to refuse.</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: i don’t think you will</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska looks at Terezi, who bursts out laughing.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1’M SORRY WH4T</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: you aalready know the stakes</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: aall i’m offering is aa chaance to change things</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: You still haven’t answered the most important question here.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: WHY US</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: didn’t i just tell you thaat</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: we caan’t use june</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: No, no.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Why not go yourself?</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Or send any one of millions of other people?</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Why us specifically?</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: who else could go?</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: no one else haas been baack to the other universe</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: time haas paassed in more ways thaan i caan heal</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: only those who know the way baack caan get there now</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: thaat leaves you terezi</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: aand june whom we’ve discussed</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The scale of the problem is beginning to dawn on Terezi now.  June could try to stop the game from coming, sure.  In fact, Terezi has a pretty good idea that if she asked, June would absolutely do it for them, or with them.  MS wasn’t lying, though, when they said that.  No, the real reason June wouldn’t be useful is that this universe will have already compensated for her every move.  This narrative isn’t hers anymore; it’s MS’s, and the universe won’t let June interfere.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi grabs her cane and stands up at the table.  She needs to calculate her next move very carefully.  There’s no way in hell she’s joining forces with this stranger without knowing anything about them, but she can’t risk offending them either.  Instead, she taps her cane against the floor, mostly for effect.  She takes a step forward and places the business end right on the top of MS’s foot.  She stumbles, or rather pretends to, and a splash of lime green stains their shoe.  Then, just as quickly, it’s gone, and her cane is back resting against the ground, the only evidence of the exchange the memory they share.  MS looks at her, primed for a fight, but she has no intention of letting it get that far.  She already knows everything she needs to about them.  A whole life’s history laid out in that exchange.  A lifetime of ostracization that culminated in a need for perfection and the knowledge that that requires.  A decision, not quite so haphazard as it may have seemed at the time, to play a deadly game in exchange for a new life.  Achieving perfection and realizing that Paradox Space had fucked them over anyway.  And, ultimately, another decision to come back and stop the whole thing from the start.  She doesn’t envy them, but such circumstances aren’t unheard of, not in this company.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3LL DO 1T</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: i really must insist thaat you</span><br/>
<span class="karkat">MS: wait whaat</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Yeah, what?</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Don’t you think we should m8y8e talk a8out this?</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Somewhere private?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska shoots a look toward Buford and Catalina, who are currently entertaining themselves in a heated debate on the subject of… actually Terezi can’t really tell.  She still hasn’t quite picked up Carapacian Sign Language, and none of the signs they’re using look like ones she saw back in the cave.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3 W1LL</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1N F4CT W3 W3R3 JUST L34V1NG</span><br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catalina stomps her foot, and Terezi notices that she’s paying rapt attention to the conversation now.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4FT3R D1NN3R OF COURS3</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catalina nods her head once, then goes back into a flurry of signs with her dad.  Terezi sits down and pulls out her palmhusk.  She sends a quick message out to June, whose services she’s about to need.  After all, there's no need to fly all the way to a new universe again when she can just bum a ride off her favorite—and since the dissolution of the Green Sun, only—teleporting friend.  Dinner can’t come soon enough.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Fell behind a couple of days on the daily writing thing, but I think I've managed to catch up?  Well, except for the entirety of March and April, still gotta make up for that at some point.</p><p>WARNING: Major Character Death in this chapter</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="block">
<span class="john">JUNE: okay, so what am I doing again?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1T’S V3RY S1MPL3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: YOU’R3 T4K1NG US TO TH3 S1T3 OF TH3 B4TTL3F13LD 4FT3R LORD 3NGL1SH’S D3F34T</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Or just 8efore.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4FT3R</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3 C4NT R1SK G3TT1NG OURS3LV3S K1LL3D 1N 4 STRUGGL3 FOR TH3 L1F3 OR D34TH OF 4 UN1V3RS3 OR H4V3 YOU FOGOTT3N??</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Ugh, fine.  After.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3 W41T 4N 1ND3T3RM1N4T3 4MOUNT OF T1M3 UNT1L SOM3 H4PL3SS V3RS1ONS OF OURS3LV3S STUMBL3 1NTO TH3 JUJU</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: and how do you know that’s going to happen?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: WH4T</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: I mean surely you’re not just relying on pure luck, right?</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: you know what to do if the juju doesn’t activate again.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: or if it’s not one of you who stumbles into it.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: you’ve got other plans, right?</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Oh yeah.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: We’ve got lots of irons in the fire.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Contingencies within contingencies.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Wheels within wheels.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: have you been talking to dirk?</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: May8e.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: ugh, anyway.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: how exactly are you so sure that it’ll happen the way you think it will?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: B3C4US3 1M 4 S33R OBV1OUSLY</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: uh huh, and precisely how long have you been able to use your seer powers?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4CTU4LLY QU1T3 SOM3 T1M3, WH1CH YOU WOULD KNOW 1F YOU P41D 4NY 4TT3NT1ON</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: right, must have just missed the wings.</span><br/>
</p><p>Terezi socks June on the arm, and June blows a raspberry back at her.</p><p class="block">
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: OBV1OUSLY 1 H4V3N’T GODT13R3D Y3T</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: BUT 1’V3 B33N G3TT1NG 1NKL1NGS OF POW3R S1NC3 B3FOR3 W3 WON TH3 G4M3</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Remem8er when you did the windy thing for the first time?</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: okay, fine, no need to explain the whole situation.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: grab on tight, this can be a bit of a rough ride.</span><br/>
</p><p>Terezi doesn’t know quite what to expect.  Her memories from the Game Over timeline have helped her make sense of quite a bit in the weeks since she got them, but there’s no precedent for zipping between universes and timelines at someone else’s whim.</p><p>Still, she grabs June’s hands and nods that she’s ready.  On the other side, Vriska grabs onto June’s arm.</p><p class="block">
<span class="john">JUNE: okay, buckle up!</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: WH4T</span><br/>
</p><p>The ground shifts before Terezi can make sense that it’s gone.  Where once were the calm fields of Earth C, with its just-shy-of-idyllic weather and its pale blue sky, there’s no just chaos.  The scents of bright colors assault Terezi’s nose in seemingly random patterns, and it’s all she can do to keep her balance.  There seems to be a mix of black and neon green above her, but everything below the horizon is a rainbow of blood and unconscious ghosts waiting to get sucked into the black hole above them.  For a second, she thinks she gets a whiff of a solid block of white, but it’s gone just as quick.</p><p class="block">
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: H3Y NOT TO SOUND TH3 4L4RM TOO 34RLY OR 4NYTH1NG BUT</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 C4NT S33</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Yeah, we know.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: NO R34LLY</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: TH3R3’S TOO MUCH H3R3 FOR M3 TO D1ST1NGU1SH 4NY OF 1T</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: oh shit.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Uhhhhhhhh okay, here.</span><br/>
</p><p>
Vriska and June walk to either side of her and each grab a forearm.  Vriska gets there first, and when June grabs onto the other side, Vriska’s grip tightens.  After a second, though, Vriska lets go and takes a few steps ahead.
</p><p class="block">
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Here, I’ll just make sure there aren’t any major o8stacles, ok8y?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: OH YOU DONT R34LLY N33D TO DO TH4T</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 31TH3R OF YOU R34LLY</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: JUST SLOW1NG DOWN 4ND L3TT1NG M3 F33L MY W4Y THROUGH 1S F1N3</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: No really!</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: 8t’s nothing!</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: ::::)</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: &gt;:]</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: OK4Y F1N3</span>
</p><p>Vriska steps forward and starts kicking stuff out of the way.  June leads her along the path that Vriska makes.  The whole process would be a lot easier if they would just slow down and let her use her cane, admittedly, but she can’t say it’s not nice to feel pampered.  Even if June doesn’t exactly know how to communicate what’s on the ground below her in a remotely effective way, and Vriska seems much more interested in kicking random things aside than in making an actual path.</p><p>Okay, yeah, the whole process kind of sucks.  Regardless, the three of them eventually make their way to the juju, a large white house-shaped plane which still hovers above the corpses on the battlefield as if waiting to discharge its payload.  Lord English is presumably nowhere to be found, although Terezi can’t really tell.</p><p class="block">
<span class="john">JUNE: so this is the part where one of you sticks your hand through the juju and prays that there’s another version of you inside, right?</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Well, not exactly.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: We have to w8 until we know that one of us has gone inside because we don’t want to end up trapped.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1T SHOULD H4PP3N H3R3 1N 4 COUPL3 OF M1NUT3S</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: G4M3 OV3R T3R3Z1’S M3MOR13S G3T H4ZY 4ROUND TH1S P4RT</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: BUT SH3 4ND (VR1SK4) 3V3NTU4LLY M4D3 TH31R W4Y TO TH3 B4TTL3F13LD</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4ND PR3SUM4BLY LOCK3D TH3MS3LV3S 1NS1D3 FOR 4N 3T3RN1TY</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: presumably.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Presuma8ly.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: so what do we do in the meantime?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 DON’T KNOW 3GB3RT W3R3 YOU PL4NN1NG ON PL4Y1NG C4RDS??</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: i have some if you want to!</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: JUN3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: B4B3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: DO YOU W4NT M3 TO L1CK YOUR C4RDS??</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: oh ew no.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: couldn’t you just not do that?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 S33</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: YOU JUST W4NN4 PL4Y W1TH TH3 BL1ND G1RL SO YOU C4N W1N</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: what?</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: no it’s not like that.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: VR1SK4 4R3 YOU S331NG TH1S??</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Oh, I’m seeing 8t, all right.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: TH1S HORR1BL3 R3PR3H3NS1BL3 B3H4V1OR</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Positively repugn8nt.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: okay, that’s really not fair.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Shush.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: what, i don’t even get to defend myself?</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Shush!</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: WH4T 1S 1T</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: I think they’re here.</span>
</p><p>Terezi turns and sniffs the air.  Not much has changed, really.  In the quiet, though, she can hear the chaos of the Furthest Ring falling apart.  Ghosts being sucked off of the battlefield scream when they’re awake enough to do so.  Amidst the chaos, two pairs of footsteps approach the group.</p><p class="block">
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Ugh, it’s this loser.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: H3Y PL4Y N1C3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: SH3’S G1V1NG UP H3R 3X1ST3NC3 FOR US TO H4V3 TH3 4B1L1TY TO CH4NG3 C4NON</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: F8ne.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Hi.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">(VRISKA): Um, hey.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: (T3R3Z1) 1F YOU WOULDN’T M1ND</span>
</p><p>(Terezi) breaks off from (Vriska), who goes and sits next to Vriska and stares off into space.  Terezi pulls out her cane and follows (Terezi) as she makes her way to a secluded spot through the destruction.  June looks between the two groups and decides that she’s much more interested in the apparently appalling state of her fingernails than in intervening in either of those conversations.  Terezi and (Terezi) sit down on some less-than-uncomfortable-seeming rocks.</p><p class="block">
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): H3Y TH3R3 N3RD</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: OK4Y OFF TO 4 GR34T ST4RT</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: WH4TS UP</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): OH YOU KNOW</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): S4V1NG TH3 UN1V3RS3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): 4ND TH3N W4TCH1NG 1T 4LL F4LL TO SH1T 4NYW4Y</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: BUT OF COURS3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: HOW 3LS3 WOULD 1T GO FOR US</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): W3LL HOP3FULLY 1T W3NT 4 B1T B3TT3R FOR YOU</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI):</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): R1GHT??</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: WH4T DO YOU M34N</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): W1TH VR1SK4 TH3R3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: OH</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: TH4T</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: W3LL 1T C3RT41NLY M4D3 TH1NGS MOR3 1NT3R3ST1NG</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: BUT HON3STLY</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1V3 K1ND OF SP3NT TH3 WHOL3 T1M3 S1NC3 TH3 R3TCON TRY1NG TO L1V3 UP TO YOU</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4ND 1 DONT KNOW</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: M4YB3 1 W4S HOP1NG YOUD H4V3 SOM3 K1ND OF</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: M4G1C4L 4DV1C3 TH4T WOULD F1X TH3 HOL3 1N M3 ONC3 4ND FOR 4LL</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): OH J3GUS</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 KNOW R1GHT</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: LOOK 4T M3 GROV3L1NG TO 4 STR4NG3 V3RS1ON OF MYS3LF FOR H3LP</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: DONT L3T VR1SK4 KNOW</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): GOD NO</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): (VR1SK4) M4YB3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): BUT NOT VR1SK4</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Do I hear my name over there?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: G1V3 1T 4 S3C W3R3 1N TH3 M1DDL3 OF SOM3TH1NG</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): QU1T3 HON3STLY T3R3Z1</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): 1 DO KNOW TH4T P1T YOUR3 F33L1NG</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): 4ND 1 W4S HOP1NG TH4T H4V1NG VR1SK4 WOULD F1LL 1T</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): 4ND M4YB3 1T WORK3D FOR M3 JUST 4 L1TTL3 B1T B3C4US3 1 H4D SO MUCH T1M3 TO F1GUR3 MYS3LF OUT 4ND WH4T 3X4CTLY MY R3L4T1ONSH1P TO H3R COULD M34N</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): BUT TH1S??</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): TH1S 1S N3W</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): YOUV3 GOTT4 F1GUR3 1T OUT ON YOUR OWN</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: W1TH H3R YOU M34N</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): 1F TH4TS WH4T YOU W4NT</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI:</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI:</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: Y34H</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 TH1NK 1T 1S</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): TH3N YOU DONT N33D M3 TO T3LL YOU WH4T TO DO</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4ND WH4T 4BOUT YOU</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): 1 KNOW WH4T 1 W4NT</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): W3’LL SP3ND SOM3 T1M3 H4NG1NG OUT 1N TH3 CUB3 B3FOR3 4LL S3NS3 OF N4RR4T1V3 R3L3V4NCY F4LLS TO SH1T 4ND W3 3SC4P3 4T WH1CH PO1NT WHO KNOWS</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): M4YB3 W3LL S3TTL3 DOWN 1N TH3 SUBURBS 4ND 4DOPT 2.1 W1GGL3RS</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: PROB4BLY NOT THOUGH</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): NO</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): W1TH H3R??</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): PROB4BLY SOM3TH1NG MUCH MOR3 FUN</span><br/>
</p><p>A stray chunk of the battlefield flies up into the sky, and Terezi notices that the black and green ring that once marked the horizon has grown quite close.</p><p class="block">
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): LOOKS L1K3  T1M3 TO GO</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4PP34RS SO</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): DONT WORRY</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): YOUR3 GONN4 F1GUR3 1T OUT</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: TH4NKS</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: NOW NOT TO B3 C4LLOUS OR 4NYTH1NG BUT 1V3 GOT 4 PL4N3T TO S4V3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): DONT W3 4LW4YS??</span>
</p><p>(Terezi) gets up and offers Terezi a hand.  She takes it, and they make their way over to the two Vriskas who are matching shades of flustered blue.  Some differences are just too big to reconcile, it appears.  June is still watching her fingernails intently, as though she could simply stare away the awkwardness of her being here.</p><p class="block">
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): HOWD 1T GO L4D1ES</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: You’re in on this, aren’t you.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: You’re just playing a sick prank on me, I know it.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): OH YOUD KNOW 1F 1 W3R3 PL4Y1NG 4 PR4NK ON YOU</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): LUCKY FOR YOU 1 D1DNT H4V3 T1M3 TO PL4N ON TH3 W4Y H3R3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): OTH3RW1S3 1D H4V3 SOM3TH1NG POS1T1V3LY 3GB3RT14N R34DY FOR YOU</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: hey!</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: oh wait.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: okay, yeah i guess that is kind of my thing.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: thanks i guess?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): NO PROBL3M</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">(TEREZI): NOW 1F YOULL 3XCUS3 US (VR1SK4) 4ND 1 H4V3 4 D4T3 FOR TH3 N3XT COUPL3 OF Y34RS 4ND 1 FOR ON3 4M R4TH3R LOOK1NG FORW4RD TO 1T</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">(VRISKA): Wait, really?</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">(VRISKA): I mean, y8 l8t’s go!</span><br/>
</p><p>(Vriska) and (Terezi) join hands, then share one last look before they hop into the juju.  The ambient air grows bright, then dims as the juju flops onto the ground waiting to be activated again.  Hopefully, the battle it’s waiting for will never come.  Another chunk of the battlefield flies up into space.</p><p class="block">
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Ugh, wh8t a couple of losers.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: ::::/</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 DONT KNOW 4BOUT YOU BUT 1M GR34T</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Relish it while you can, then.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Who knows what crime against your identity might come of years of isolation with (Vriska).</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Anyways, I was thinking.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: GO 4H34D</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: May8e I should 8e the one to—</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: W8 really?</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 M34N 1TS B4S1C4LLY 3V3RYTH1NG YOUV3 3V3R W4NT3D R1GHT??</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: GO FOR 1T</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: JUN3 4ND 1 W1LL JUST B3 H3R3 H4T3 M4K1NG OUT WH1L3 W3 W41T</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: uhhhhh…</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: TH4T W4S 4 JOK3</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: right.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: All right, well don’t h8ve too much fun without me.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1MPOSS1BL3</span><br/>
</p><p>Vriska steps forward towards the juju.  The earth shakes, and Vriska falls face first into the house.  The battlefield crumbles, and Vriska disappears.  June grabs Terezi by the armpits as piece after piece of earth flies by them.  Vriska appears in the empty space next to them for a second, unconscious.  She floats gently towards the black hole, then flashes bright white and disappears.</p><p>After a second, Terezi manages to free her jetpack and get free of June’s loving iron grip.  Two Vriskas appear this time and notice each other.  One lunges for the other, who disappears.  The first disappears again too after another second.</p><p>A Vriska appears right in front of Terezi, moving towards her at full speed.  Terezi tries to maneuver her jetpack out of the way, but only manages to hit a piece of earth behind her.  Her jetpack begins to hiss as the Vriska disappears again.  June lunges towards her at full speed and makes a brushing motion on each shoulder.</p><p>Terezi is halfway through taking off the jetpack when it explodes.</p>
<hr/><p>The first thing Terezi sees when she wakes up is fireflies.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, uhhhh,.... now i've got some decisions to make apparently</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The second thing she sees is, well frankly, everything.  More specifically, she sees every decision everyone in her lifetime has ever made.  She sees every time a hapless lover has taken a leap of faith and every time she’s decided to hold down her feelings instead.  She sees every spur-of-the-moment stop by a flower shop and every career path changed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sees a cast of characters start to form.  A few constants across universes emerge: herself, Vriska, June, the rest of the creators.  Their decisions were spawning dead timelines even well before any of them entered the Medium, but the Game accelerated the process.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sees herself, making one seemingly inconsequential decision.  A simple choice of left or right.  To traverse along the decaying remnants of the Furthest Ring clockwise or counter-clockwise.  A decision she had made haphazardly by flipping her coin.  Good heads right, bad heads left.  The coin came up bad heads, and she went left.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sees two branching and conflicting canon timelines split from each other, each when she had gone right.  She sees herself missing Vriska entirely in the Furthest Ring, an outcome avoided in this timeline by Aradia’s good graces alone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sees every possible decision that she or anyone else could ever make condense into nodes not unlike the symbol now on her shirt.  They’re linked and interwoven, and many run parallel to each other for node after node before finally diverging.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In an instant, every clue that she had picked up in her pre-godtier life coalesced into one manageable picture of life.  And in the same instant, it’s gone, replaced by the chaos of trying to sort “canon” from “non-canon” this far into a doomed timeline.  Or, rather, this far into a timeline which very well ought to be doomed except that outside the Medium, there is no mechanism to doom a timeline.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The third thing she sees is Vriska, kneeling at the foot of Terezi’s quest bed, cheeks stained blue with tears.  June sits next to her, facing away towards the inside of Prospit’s moon.  Vriska leaps up and practically tackles Terezi out of the sky.  If she weren’t aware of her apparently recent godtiering, she might be worried about Vriska crushing her to death with how tightly she holds on.  June comes up behind Terezi and embraces the both of them much more gently.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: H3Y GUYS</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: M1ND 3XPL41N1NG TH1S</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vriska lets go of her, and the three of them float comfortably within each other’s space.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: It’s a long story.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: I’d really prefer not to.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: when vriska got the retcon powers, things went a little haywire.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: and i lost mine at the same time, so i wasn’t quick enough to save you.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 S33</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: SP34K1NG OF WH1CH W4S GODT13R1NG M3 R34LLY TH3 ONLY SOLUT1ON H3R3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: NOT TO B3 UNGR4T3FUL BUT 1 K1ND OF L1K3D B31NG BL1ND</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: It was the only one we could come up with.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: It was too chaotic to get you out of the jetpack, and zapping you out prematurely made some weird splinter timelines.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: so here we are instead.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: hope it’s all right.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi grabs her sunglasses from her sylladex and looks at them.  They’re reflective, a small concession she granted her conversation partners, knowing that people acted weird around her when they could see her eyes not tracking them.  She puts them on.  It’s fine, right?  (Terezi) just pretended for awhile, and it worked out for her.  Mostly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>June floats over her head and kisses her.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
<span class="john">JUNE: i’m really glad you’re back.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: i actually really missed you.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>June squints a bit, then corrects herself.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="john">JUNE: allegedly.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 4LL3G3DLY??</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 D1DNT 3V3N BR1NG 4NY 4CCUS4T1ONS 4G41NST YOU</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: DONT WORRY THOUGH</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 WONT BR1NG YOUR OBV1OUS 4DM1T1ON OF GU1LT 1NTO TH3 BODY OF 3V1D3NC3</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 DONT W4NT TH3 TR14L TO B3 TOO 34SY</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: oh shut up, you.</span><br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Terezi looks at Vriska, who’s floating back a bit now and watching the two of them.  She’s got a weird mix of relief and longing on her face, the result of-- nope, nope, not doing that.  Even if Vriska probably expects it, it still feels weird to look through her thoughts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instead, Terezi takes a moment to search through her own feelings.  Or, more accurately, she looks through (Terezi)’s feelings around when she found (Vriska).  She senses relief and longing, desire and anxiety.  The same feelings she might be feeling right now, if she would let herself feel them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looks at Vriska again.  She knows what she wants, and she hopes that Vriska feels the same.  Without using her powers, there’s only one way to find out.  But you know what?  Fuck it.  It’s a celebration.  She’s newly back to life after God only knows how long, and she spent a whole lifetime repressing her feelings.  For once, she’s just gonna go for it and let the consequences come later.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She flies over to Vriska and grabs her by the shoulders.  She looks deep into her eyes and just kisses her.  She knows, roughly, what to expect.  After all, she’s kissed June a handful of times now.  She doesn’t expect the roughness of Vriska’s skin or the way her mouth tastes cerulean, although perhaps both should have been obvious.  She certainly doesn’t expect when Vriska kisses back or when she slips June a twenty behind her back.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="terezi">TEREZI: W41T W3R3 YOU T4K1NG B3TS ON M3</span><br/>

  <span class="john">JUNE: my idea.</span><br/>
<span class="john">JUNE: vriska here was convinced that her feelings were all one-sided, so i proposed a simple wager.</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: JUN3 YOU 1NSUFF3R4BL3</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Hey, I think it’s my turn!</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: 1</span><br/>
<span class="terezi">TEREZI: UGH YOUR3 BOTH HORR1BL3</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She kisses Vriska again and tries to ignore June blowing raspberries behind her.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="john">JUNE: i hate to burst y’all’s bubble there, but we do need to get back to earth c eventually.</span><br/>
<span class="vriska">VRISKA: Oh hush, we’ve g8t all the time in the universe.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A chunk of spacetime breaks off from the rest and whizzes by them.</span>
</p>
<p class="block">
  <span class="vriska">VRISKA: Okay, fine, let’s go kick some ass.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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